1. Field
The disclosed embodiments relate to a flight deck or cockpit for an aircraft and an aircraft including such cockpit. The disclosed embodiments more specially aims at a carrier aircraft for transporting special, bulky and/or heavy freight, in particular components intended for the assembling of aircrafts, such as aircraft wings, and also industrial machines, complete helicopters and humanitarian aid for example.
2. Brief Description of Related Developments
Carrier aircrafts for transporting bulky freight such as fuselage sections or components of a space station are known. Such a plane, for example the Beluga, carries freight from an aircraft manufacturer's various manufacturing sites to the final assembling site, so that a complete aircraft can be built.
Although such a plane can be derived from an existing aircraft, designing a carrier aircraft requires new studies and developments, so as to build a widebody cargo aircraft. More particularly, the internal volume housing the freight must be notably increased while keeping the aerodynamic properties and the weathercock stability required by a cargo aircraft.
Such studies and development require substantial efforts from the manufacturer, in terms of technical means, as well as skilled labour and costs.
The development of a nose cone and the integration of avionics systems are particularly difficult, from a technical point of view, and costly.
It would also be advantageous to have a freight carrying aircraft having a carrying capacity greater than that of the known cargo aircrafts because of the increasing need for a fast transportation of large equipment and/or components, with reduced transportation costs.
Besides, on a multi-engined aircraft, the engines of which are positioned under or on the airfoil, the fuselage is broken down into three distinct parts. A first part, positioned at the front, comprises the cockpit, several cargo bays and a nose cone. Such nose cone houses the radar, the antenna of which is covered by a radome. The fuselage also comprises a central part which is used as a cabin for passengers or as a cargo bay for luggage or freight and which the wings are fixed on. Finally, it comprises a generally single-piece rear part, having a conical shape, which the horizontal and vertical tail fins are connected with.